Holiday at the Burrow
by Lady Christina
Summary: A day at the Burrow during the summer hols for Hermonie, Ron and Harry; set right after GoF. Revised 12/29/00.


New A/N: What you are about to read is "Holiday at the Burrow, volume 2.0." After looking over it over my Christmas break I decided I didn't like it very much, and I made extensive edits. There were a lot of places where the meaning I was trying to convey wasn't clear, and the like, so I tried to fix all that. I hope I did okay.

Old A/N: This is just a short fic I wrote, it takes place during the holiday after the trio's fourth year at Hogwarts. Please R/R, flames if you feel necessary, just know that I am a R/H "supporter," especially after GoF, and nothing you say or do will change that. Beware, it contains spoilers from Goblet, so don't read this if you haven't read that, and don't want to be surprised.

Oh, and the date--well, in the fall of CoS it was 1992, so the holiday was 1993, and two years later (Goblet) would be 1995.

**Holiday at the Burrow**__

_By Lady Christina ([christina@columbus.rr.com][1])_

The date was August second, 1995, and the place was England. More specifically, the Burrow. Ron had invited Harry and Hermione to spend the holiday at his house. Hermione of course was coming, but at the moment she was visiting Viktor Krum, the world-famous Quidditch Seeker in his native Bulgaria. Harry was ready to come the day he got out of Hogwarts, but Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, had to make sure that Harry would be safe at the Burrow. He preformed a complex charm with the assistance of Professor Flitwick that ensured neither Lord Voldemort nor his followers would not me able to touch Harry in any way, shape or form.

A little over two months ago, the most feared wizard of all time had risen back to power. The wizarding community did not know, only a handful of underage wizards and witches that attended Hogwarts did. Harry could only imagine what would happen if they knew that Lord Voldemort had returned to power; the magical community still refused to even call Voldemort by his name, instead insisting to say "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named" or "You-Know-Who." Harry thought this was ridiculous, and he firmly believed what Dumbledore had once told him: fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself. He also remembered studying in primary school that a great American Muggle--a Minister?--one said "we have nothing to fear but fear itself."

Harry was safe, however, at the Burrow. There was no other place he would rather be at this moment. And he _was_ safe. He had to keep reminding himself of this, because, deep down, he was worried. Worried about Voldemort, and what he could do--what he would do, given the opportunity. Harry was the only one who stood in his way of domination, and let's face it: if you were an evil wizard who wanted to control the world and the only thing stopping you was a fifteen year old boy you'd want to kill him off, right? The Dark Lord sure did.

Harry slept uneasily in Ron's room, but over the next few days, his fears seemed to disappear somewhat. Ron, Harry, George and Fred (Ron's twin brothers who were entering their seventh and final year at Hogwarts) passed the time playing Quidditch in the Weasley's very large back yard. Sometimes the garden gnomes would come out and watch, abandoning their homes and safety to watch the loud game above them. When they cheered, they reminded Harry of the leprechauns from Ireland at the World Cup last holiday. 

Fred, George and Harry were members of the Gryffindor team; there were two openings on the team: the Keeper (previously occupied by Puddlemere Reserve player Oliver Wood) and one of the Chasers (left vacant by Katie Bell). Ron wanted to play Quidditch more than anything, but his old Shooting Star just wouldn't cut it. The Weasley's had promised Ron that if they had enough money left over after buying school supplies for the three boys and their daughter, Ginny, they would buy him a new broom. Harry would have loved to buy Ron a new broom, partially because he had no idea what he would do with the large amount of gold in his Gringott's vault, but Ron wouldn't hear of it. He contemplated asking Fred and George to but him a broom with the Triwizard prize money he had recently given them, but decided against it. After all, it _was_ their money and he had already had requested new dress robes for his ruffle-wearing friend.

The boys were outside playing Quidditch on the afternoon of the fifth when Mrs. Weasley shouted out her open kitchen window.

"Ron! Harry! Hermione just came through the fireplace, she's here!"

Ron immediately flew to the ground, dropping the apple they were using as the quaffle in mid-air. Gravity caused the ripe fruit to hit Harry on the head, temporarily stunning him. Seeming not to notice his momentary incapacitated friend, Ron started towards the back door. Harry flew to the ground more slowly, but still ahead of Fred and George, who seemed disappointed their makeshift game had been interrupted.  
  
_Wow! _Harry thought, _Ron must have really missed Hermione. _He remembered very well the fight Ron and Hermione had midway through their fourth year. Ron said he was upset that Hermione was "fraternizing with the enemy", but it was obvious he was indignant that Hermione had the gall to go to the Yule Ball with someone other then him. He never actually mentioned this, but it was obvious to all. **Especially** after Harry had found an arm separated from Ron's Viktor Krum figurine.

Fred and George had obviously noticed their little brothers strange behavior.

"Ah, would you believe it, Fred? Our little brother has fallen in love?" George said, with a glint in his eye that Harry knew meant trouble.

"Ickle Ronnefinks in love! You know anything about this Harry?" Fred asked, matching his twins look.

"Not more then you know, really," Harry answered truthfully. "You saw how he reacted after the Yule Ball, it's obvious he fancies her."

The trio stepped inside, and nothing could prepare them for the sight  
playing out in front of them: Ron and Hermione were standing in the center of the room, hugging, not as friends but as lovers. As if that wasn't enough, they were whispering silently to each other. Harry and twins looked at each other amazed, not believing what they were seeing: Ron and Hermione openly showing their affection for each other?! Molly and Arthur Weasley were off to the side, hand in hand, looking like this was the proudest moment of their lives. Their son was in love, or so it seemed, with a very nice girl, someone they both approved of. Ginny was with them, looking at Hermione as if she had some explaining to do. From the look on her face, she didn't seem to mind, as she loved Hermione, and wanted her brother to be happy. George and Fred had recovered from their initial shock, and looked as if the Ban on Underage Wizardry Outside of Class had just been lifted. Harry didn't know what to think, but cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"Um, hi Hermione. Nice to see you," Harry said feeling his cheeks tinge pink.

Hermione immediately broke away from Ron, much to his disappointment. "Oh, hi Harry . . . hi everyone. Er, I didn't notice that anyone else was here." Hermione blushed crimson, and Ron went the red that was reserved for the Weasley family.

"Wonder why that was?" Fred muttered in the general direction of Harry and George, stealing a glance in the direction of his youngest brother.

"I'm so sorry Ron, Hermione. Are we interrupting something? Maybe we should go?" Mrs. Weasley also blushed the Weasley red, and started to move her husband and daughter towards the door, making frantic gestures at George, Harry and Fred to follow her lead.

"No, no Mrs. Weasley, everything is fine, don't worry about it," Hermione said, facing Mrs. Weasley, the blush receding from her cheeks. She then turned to face Harry. "Hello Harry!," she said, rushing over to him, "it is so nice to see you, I'm so glad that you're safe! I must confess I was very worried when I was in Bulgaria, because we didn't get much news from England. You know, they're ministries aren't too close, so a lot of things are censored from the public."

Harry let himself be hugged by Hermione, but did not hug here back. Instead, he glanced over here shoulder at Ron, shooting him a questioning glance. Ron just smiled back, looking the happiest Harry had seen him since he first received Pig from Sirius the last day of their third year.

==

The rest of the afternoon was spent by the three friends catching up on their separate holiday happenings. Harry told Hermione about his awful time at the Dursley's, and how he was rescued by Ron and his family with a well-timed letter. At first, Uncle Vernon didn't let him go, but a quick letter from Sirius later, and they were all for it. Ron didn't have much to add to the conversation, for he had a relatively average holiday, and the only exciting part (Harry's rescue) had been told. He instead busied himself by staring "googly eyed" at Hermione. She told the boys about Bulgaria--she had, of course, learned a lot about foreign wizards, and seemed to have bought out an entire bookstore. Listening to her speak, Harry noticed everything that she saw seemed to be 'interesting,' 'fascinating' or 'magnificent.' She didn't mention Krum, until Harry asked about him. Ron suddenly broke his glazed stare and looked up, interested. Hermione didn't answer at first, instead squirmed uncomfortably.

"Well, we spent some time together, and obviously got to know each other better. I thought we were having a wonderful time together--and we were--but then he told me that he was moving to America. It seems he was always interested in the way they ran their Ministry, not England or Bulgaria's, and he was offered the position of seeker on their Quidditch team. He has accepted, of course, and will be moving over seas soon."

"Did you break it off?" Ron said, looking more hopeful then probably should have been. After all, Viktor was Hermione's first boyfriend!

"Yes, it would be too difficult. Especially since I wont be able to apparate for another three years. He suggested I do it illegally and risk suspension from Hogwarts. That," Hermione said, looking positively scandalized, "was when I knew it wouldn't work out. However, Viktor did promise we would keep in touch, and he would visit me. Of course, since he can't apparate at Hogwarts, it would only be during the holiday. There really is no hope for anything more between us, unfortunately. It's really too bad, because I was starting to fancy him, as you have probably noticed."

"That's great!" Ron said, but when Hermione glanced at him, obviously hurt, he changed his tone. "Well, I mean it's horrible things didn't work out between you two, but at least you won't have to worry about him when he is so far away. You can be a lot more laid back now, not having to worry about what Viktor would think about this or that."

Before Ron and Hermione could put their sentiments in words, Mrs. Weasley called for the three to dinner. Harry couldn't have thought of a better time for an interruption himself. Truth be told, he wasn't looking forward to watching his two best friends proclaim their undying emotion to each other.

Dinner passed without event, unless you count Fred putting a Canary Cream in one of Percy's dinner roles, causing the older boy to sprout yellow feathers. As a punishment, Fred was made to clear the table and wash the dishes **without magic**. He grumbled all the while, mostly saying things along the lines of "this is something _Snape_ would make me do!") The after-dinner game of Gobbstones. Ron begged his family to play a quick game of game of Wizard Chess with him, but they all knew better and refused. Finally, Percy relented, by saying "I agree, if for nothing more then to stop your incessant whining." Percy was much better then he had ever let on, though Ron still beat him decisively. When the game was done, everyone headed up to their rooms and prepared for bed.

It was then that Harry had a moment alone with Ron and had the opportunity to question him about the afternoon's events. He had no doubt Ginny was doing the same to Hermione. 

"So, Ron, is there anything that you want to tell me?" Harry asked, looking at Ron questioningly.

Ron squirmed nervously. "Well, um . . . What do you mean?"

"About Hermione, perhaps?"

"Oh, yeah, uh, that. Yeah, well, what do you want to know?" Ron was now looking extremely edgy.

"Like why you ran into the sitting room, hugged her, and wouldn't let her go?"

"Oh, Harry, I never thought I would feel this way, especially about Hermione. But you remember that night at the Yule Ball?" He glanced at Harry, who nodded. "Well, it was that night when I realized what I was feeling. I realized that I like her. A lot. That's what I told her today. Then guess what, you'll never guess--she told me she feels the same way! On the way back from Bulgaria I guess she was thinking a lot, mostly about what really mattered to her, and she had noticed I liked her that night too, but had chosen to ignore it, because of Krum. Since he's out of the way now, she realized she felt the same way about me."

"So you two haven't been having a torrid affair with her behind my back?"

Ron looked scandalized at the mere mention of an affair. "Harry, what hex did George set on you now? The "I-will-not-trust-my-very-best-friend-even-though-I-know-he-would-never-lie-to-me" jinx? Oh, no Harry! You are the best friend that I ever had. I would never, ever keep something from you, especially something like this. **Especially** after the Goblet incident." Harry frowned at the memory of a time when when the only person in all of Hogwarts that would speak to him was Hermione, save the professors. And even then, Professor Sprout was shockingly distant. Still, he nodded.

"Okay, well, I feel better. As long as you two are happy, then that's all that really matters."

"Thanks Harry. It means a lot to me to know that I have your okay with this. After all, not everyone would be absolutely thrilled with their two best friends discovering they have feelings for each other. Now what about you and Cho?" Ron asked, looking at Harry curiously.

"Er, well, she'll be a sixth year, and you know that's a year ahead of us . ."

"Well that never stopped you before!"

"I know, but this whole thing with Cedric . . . do you think that I should just give her some time to herself? After all, he did just **die**. Trust me, I was there. One moment he was alive, full of energy and all 'Wands out, do you reckon?' and the next he was spread-eagle on the ground next to me, the life snuffed out of him like you would a candle."

"You know that I am not good at stuff like this, but it probably is too early to do anything. I can't imagine what it would be like to lose Hermione, and we just found each other."

Harry rolled his eyes, and threw a pillow at Ron.

"Would you believe the way we are acting tonight? Gossiping and throwing pillows? We're acting like Hermione and Ginny, or worse, Parvati and Lavender!"

"Ugh. Let's just go to bed, and never say anything about this episode, shall we?"

"Sounds good to me Harry. Good night."

Harry was already balancing the line between consciousness ad unconsciousness, trying to decide whether or not to answer Ron.

Finally, he mustered a "Gumph Nach," which was the best he could do, considering he was laying with his face in a down pillow. Despite the immense planning and effort on Harry's part, Ron didn't hear; he had already fallen asleep and was snoring peacefully. Ginny and Hermione were in the next room, talking and giggling (more of the latter) until the early hours of the morning. Luckily the Weasely household had thick walls, because otherwise they would have kept Harry and Ron up half the night with their interesting confessions of love, lust and betrayal.

By three o'clock everyone in the Burrow was asleep, ready for whatever would come to them the next day. Or so they thought.

   [1]: mailto:christina@columbus.rr.com



End file.
